Five Mexico Open contenders playing for 2027 Tour cards on Saturday

Andrew Novak will get most of the TV time on Saturday at the VidantaWorld Mexico Open. He shot a 61 on Friday, tied the tournament record and leads by three at 14 under. A few spots behind him, several players are close to the FedEx Cup Fall's top-100 line, the cutoff for full PGA Tour cards in 2027.

Golf Channel's breakdown of the fall explains the tiers. Players who finish 61st to 100th after the RSM Classic on Nov. 22 get full status. Nos. 101 to 125 get conditional status and a full Korn Ferry Tour exemption. Nos. 126 to 150 have no PGA Tour card. Only Los Cabos, Austin and Sea Island remain after this week.

The five below are ranked by where the PGA Tour's live FedEx Cup Fall projections had them before the third round. The projections assume Friday's leaderboard holds through Sunday, so they will move with every shot.

1. Marco Penge, projected 100th

Penge is tied for seventh at 10 under after rounds of 64 and 68. He started the week 112th. If the leaderboard stayed where it is, he would sit exactly on the line, which leaves him no room for a quiet weekend.

2. Adrien Dumont de Chassart, projected 102nd

Dumont de Chassart (64-67) is in the five-way tie for second at 11 under. He started the week 127th, outside even conditional status. The current projection moves him up 25 spots but still leaves him two places short.

3. Matthieu Pavon, projected 116th

Pavon (65-66) is also tied for second and plays in the final group with Novak and amateur Kihei Akina. He came in 140th, so holding his spot would lift him into the conditional range.

4. Luke Clanton, projected 121st

Clanton is tied for 11th at 9 under (66-67). Golf Channel noted that he entered the fall 147th, then tied for seventh in Utah with a closing 62 and tied for 11th in Bermuda. He started this week 126th, one spot outside conditional status.

5. Gordon Sargent, projected 122nd

Sargent shot 65 on Friday and is tied for seventh at 10 under. He started the week 133rd and would move inside 125 if he holds his position.

Others to track

Max Greyserman (tied for seventh) is projected to move from 103rd to 92nd. Mackenzie Hughes (also tied for seventh) is projected to go from 118th to 112th. Kensei Hirata, tied for second, is projected to jump from 170th to 137th. Novak's own projection takes him from 89th to 53rd, inside the Aon Next 10 (Nos. 51 to 60), which comes with spots in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational.

Nick Hardy's week had already paid off before the cut. He is No. 195 in the standings and birdied his last hole Friday to make the cut on the number. He got into the field Thursday as an alternate when Taylor Moore withdrew. Golfweek and GOLF.com report that the start was his 15th of the season, which vests him in the Tour's retirement plan. Hardy told GOLF.com he will probably go to Q-School.

What to watch

Golf Channel's third-round coverage starts at 4 p.m. ET. Keep PGATour.com's FedEx Cup Fall page open next to the leaderboard. It updates live, so you can see Penge's projected rank change after every birdie and bogey.